Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has proved that even on the sidelines, he is more than worth his record-breaking contract as the most (financially) valuable player in the NFL. He has established in multiple ways this season that he is the ultimate teammate as he has spent time helping his defense prepare in meetings as well as mentor his replacement Jake Browning following the injury that ended his season, but he has officially taken it a step further this week.
Joe Burrow is Hot on the Mic in Week 15 Against Minnesota
During the closely contested Week 15 matchup against the Minesota Vikings, Burrow was seen wearing a headset. He apparently joked in a team group chat on Saturday before the game that he wasn’t sure how welcome his was on the communications line by the coaching staff. In the post-game press conference, Head Coach Zac Taylor refuted the comments by his franchise player.
“Burrow was on the headset yesterday talking. You know, I was texting with him last night,” Taylor said Sunday. “And he just said, ‘You know, I just never know how much to say.’ And I said, ‘I’ll tell you when to shut up. Trust me.’ So, I’m not scared to tell people to shut up on the headset. But again, just guys like that, that are invaluable to be on the sidelines. They see it from a different lens than we do.”
It is rarely seen for a player to be trusted with a headset on the sideline but Burrow has demonstrated that he is no typical player. Burrow has essentially become an additional quarterback coach as his mentoring has clearly helped Browning excel in his role.
Browning has statistically been the second-best quarterback in the league during his tenure as starting quarterback with a spectacular quarterback rating of 107.1. While he clearly has his own competitive fire, I’m sure he wouldn’t even disagree that the franchise quarterback’s selfless assistance hasn’t been a huge contributor.
With Cincinnati’s most recent win, their record improves to 8-6 which is good enough for the second wild card slot and a potential playoff berth for the Queen City. Cincinnati will play struggling division rival Pittsburgh this weekend with a series of critical injuries.
While the team pulled out the win against Minesota, they lost some critical players to injuries. Starting nose tackle D.J. Reader will miss the rest of the season with a groin injury and star receiver Ja’Marr Chase‘s status is up in the air after he separated his shoulder. If Cincinnati can pull the same effort they took from Tee Higgins this past week, they might be able to pull off some big wins to end the season.
Higgins made a pair of incredible catches including a play where he wrapped around the pylon as he was falling out of bounds in one of the most spectacular plays I’ve seen a receiver make in the NFL. As Cincinnati Coaches have said in the past, “On to Pittsburgh”.
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